Lamp trimmer and regulator



(No Mbdel.) 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1.

A. W. ROBINSON.

LAMP TRIMMER AND REGULATOR. No. 514,627. Patented Feb. 1'3,-18'94.

ami/Waxes I tll l'oznu (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. W. ROBINSON. LAMP TRIMMER AND REGULATOR.

No. 514,627. Patented Feb. 13, 1894.

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ATENT FFlCEe ARTHUR \V. ROBINSON, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

LAMP TRIMMER AND REGULATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 514,627, dated February 13, 1894.

Application filed August 10, 1893. Serial No. 482,849. (No model.)

To 60% whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ARTHUR W. ROBINSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore city, State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Lamp Trimmer and Regulator, of which the following is a speoi fication.

My invention relates to improvements in devices for trimming, and controlling the height of, the wicks of lamps, and the object of my invention is to provide simple and inexpensive, yet effective means for trimming the wick of a lamp, which means shall be more convenient in operation than any now in use; and a further object of myinvention is to provide means whereby the act of trimming the wick of a lamp may be automatically performed in the actof raising or lowering said wick to light or extinguish the same.

Another object of my invention is to provide meansfor limiting the height to which the top of the wick can be raised, so as to avoid the flaring and smoking which frequently take place when a wick is raised too highon being lighted, a mistake which is easily. made by reason of thefact that theoonsequent smoking and flaring do not commence as soon as the lamp is lighted, but only when the wick has become thoroughly heated, and the oil flows freely, on which acchunt the mistake is more liable to be overlooked and neglected.

The main principle of my invention consists in providing means whereby the act of trimming the lamp is automatically performed by and simultaneously with the act'of raising and lowering the wick to light the same. The

' operation of the last-named mechanismis such that power is derived from the vertical movement of the wick or of the supporting means therefor to move the trimmers horizontally across the face of the wick. This motion of the wires along the charred face of the wick is a relative motion only, and may be effected either by imparting motion to the wires or trimmers, the wick remaining stationary, (except for the vertical motion of raising or lowering,) or by moving the wick horizontally against the wires, the latter remaining stationary.

I shall describe the principle of the automatic operative connection between the trimmers and the wick raiser as applied to five forms of lamps, but it will be obvious that the same principle may, with slight modifications in the necessary mechanism, be applied to all forms of lamps having a wick raised and lowered, all that is requisite being to arrange wires or trimmers across the charred face of the wick and to add to the mechanism by which the wick is raised and lowered an operative connection therefrom to the wires, giving'the latter a movement across the face of the wick.

My invention further consists in the novel combination, construction and arrangement of the parts hereinafter specified and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a central verticalsectional view of a portion of a well-known form of central draftlamp with my invention applied thereto, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a detail of the same. Figs. 3 and 4. are similar views of a second form of lamp. Fig. 5 is a view, similar to Fig. 1, of a third type of lamp, with my invention applied thereto. Fig. 6 is a plan view of a sufficient portion thereof to show the mechanism introduced to operate my invention, and Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view of a portion thereof. Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing the application of my device to a fourth type of round-wick lamp. Fig. 9 is a similar view of the invention as applied to a flat-wick lamp, and Fig. 10 is a central cross-sectional view of the latter form.

Throughout the figures, 1 represents the wick, 2 the lamp glass or chimney, and 8 the chimney-holder.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2 which relate to a form of lamp in which the raising and lowering of the wick are accomplished by rotating the wick or wick-holder about its vertical axis, the conversion of the horizontal to the vertical motion being effected bya pin asecured to a collarcto which the wick is attached, the outer end of which pin it moves in a vertical slot d in the outer cylinder 4, and the inner end works in a spiral groove b formed on the exterior surface of the stationary cylinder 5, it will be seen that when the outer cylinder 4 is rotated, the rotary movement imparted to the pin a gives rise to a vertical movement of said pin a, collar 0, and wick 1, by reason of the engagement of the inner end of the pin a in the groove 12. Upon the outer side of the draft-regulating cylinder or flame spreader 6, preferably at equal distances, I secure asuitable number, as six, of outwardly projecting short wires 7, which wires rest upon the top or charred face of the wick when the latter rises above the edges of the cylinder 4:, 5. Instead of being formed of separate pieces of wire, secured to the cylinder, these trimmers may also be made integral with the cylinder 6, being stamped out of the same along three of their sides, in the process of manufacture of said cylinder, and then bent about their base or fourth side so as to project outward substantially normally to the surface of the cylinder, as shown at 7, Fig. 2. In order to produce frictional contact between the wires 7 and the wick to trim the lamp, it is necessary to prevent the cylinder 6 rotating with the wick as the latter is turned,

. and this I do by providing the cylinder with a number, as four, of inwardly projecting pins 8, preferably stamped outof the surface of the cylinder and bent inward, which pins 8 pass through vertical slots in the inner cylinder 5. It will be seen that by this construc tion, as the wick is turned to raise the same, the wires 7 rise with the wick, but, being prevented from horizontal motion by the pins 8 in the slots 9, rub against the charred face of the wickand remove the friable portion.

The number of wires or trimmers which should be employed with a round wick varies with the pitch of the screw motion by which the wick is raised; I have found that with ordinary lamps six is a good number to employ.

The number of wires may vary somewhat, but should be such that when rotation is made through theinterval between successive wires, the wick is raised through a height such that the trimmers merely remove the charred portions in the several adjacent intervals of the wick surface without digging into the uncharred portion of the wick. Otherwise, if the numbers of the trimmers is too small, the wick will be trimmed raggedly.

In Fig. 6 I have shown the wires or trimmers as having a slight backward slant, for the purpose of better removing the particles of cinder. While this arrangement may be adopted if desired, I have not, in my experiments, found it necessary, as the particles re moved from the wick and adhering to the wires are very quickly burned up or are carried up in the flame, and disappear. When the wick rises from the top of the cylinder; and for a short distance thereafter, the friction of the wires 7 upon the wick results solely from the weight of the superincumbent cylinder 6. But I prefer to provide means whereby, when the wick has reached a certain height, the wires will exert a positive pressure thereon. This I do by providing a lateral extension 10 in each of the slots 9. This extension is made of sufficient depth to permit the pin 8 to rise and fall therein with the wires on the cylinder 6, said wires being restrained from further elevation by contact of the pin 8 with the upper edge of the extension. edge inclines downward toward the mouth of the extension to prevent the pin 8 from slipping sidewise therefrom. 'When the wires 7 can rise no higher, the pins 8 striking against the upper edges of the extensions 10, the pressure on the charred face of the wick, due to the weight of the cylinder 6, is increased by the pressure resulting from the upward progress of the wick as it is still turned to be raised, and thus the friction between the wires and the wick is increased, and the wick is effectually trimmed. By arranging the height to which the wires can be raised as that beyond which the wick, it raised, would begin to smoke and flare, I provide by this same mechanism a regulator for the wick to prevent smoking and flaring due to the same being turned too high. I

Figs. 3 and 4 are views of a form of lamp in which the Wick itself does not turn, but is raised by turning the lamp-chimney and chimney-holder. In this case, I secure the wires 7 to a short sleeve or cylinder 11 which fits snugly over and slides upon the outer cylinder 4 which turns with the chimney-holder, with the result of rubbing 0d the charred portion, as explained above. In order to impart vertical motion to the trick, I provide a pin a secured in the collar 0 between the inner and outer cylinders, the outer end of which works in a spiral groove Z) in the internal surface of the outer cylinder 4, and the inner end moves up or down in a-vertical slot 01 in the fixed cylinder 5. Thus vertical motion is imparted to the wick from the rotary motion of the outer cylinder. In order to permit of the rise and fall of the wires 7 with the wick on the top thereof, I provide the same means as shown in Fig. l, viz:vertical slots 9 in the sleeve 11 having lateral extensions 10 through which pass the pins 8 on the outer cylinder 4.

Fig. 5 shows a form of lamp in which afiat wick is placed around a cylinder until its edges meet. In this type, the wick is contained between an outer cylinder 4 which is connected with the oil receptacle, and the inner cylinder 5, which extends downward to about the top of the oil receptacle where it is closed by the disk 12. This inner cylinder is supported .on the outer cylinder by the inte gral connections 13. 14 represents the indraft aperture extending into the central draft chamber 15. The edges of the wick meet above and below the integral connections 13. The spindle 16 has bearings in the chimney-holding frame 3, and carries a pinion 17 meshing with the gear wheel 18 on the spindle 19 having bearing in the chimney holding frame 3 and having at its other end a gear 20 meshing with a gear 21 on the spindle 22 journaled similarly to the spindle 19. The outer cylinder 4 has recesses cut out thereof This upper to permit the rotation of the small spurwheels 23 on the spindles l9 and 22'and their engagement with the outer sides of the wick to raise and lower the same, all of which is very common in the structure of lamps. The spindle 16 is extended within the central draft chamber and at its end carriesabevel gear 24 meshing with the bevel gear 25 on the vertical spindle 26 having an upper bearing 27 and a lower step bearing 28. The spindle 26 at its upper end enters within a vertical cylinder 29 which carries at its top the burner disk 30 from which extend outwardly the wires or trimmers 7. For the rise and fall of the trimmers with the wick, I provide, as in the previous figures, a vertical slot 9, having a lateral extension 10, in the outer sleeve, and a pin 8,on the spindle 26, passing through the extension 10. By suitably proportioning the pinion 17 and gear wheel 18, the wires 7 are caused to travel a considerable distance across the charred face of the wick, while the latter is raised but a small distance.

Fig. 8 shows another form in which the wires may be supported over the wick to have contact therewith either to trim the lamp automatically or non-automatically. Just within the annular part 31 of the frame,which serves as the inner portion of the chimney holder, is disposed a wire-supportingsring 32 having a suitable number, as four, of comparatively stout arms 33 sliding vertically in grooves 3i indented in the inner surface of the part 31 of the chimney holder. The lamp glass is held in position between the outer side of these indentations 34.- and the fingers 35. Another ring 36 is disposed just within the inner cylinder 5. From the ring 36 to the ring 32 extend wires 7, which rest upon the top of the wick, and rise and fall with it, the

- arms 33-slidiug in the grooves 34. This arrangement is a convenient one where it is not desired to automatically trim the lamp with the raising of the wick, as the wick can thus be trimmed from the outside by simply rotating the chimney holder 3, the wires or trimmers 7 moving horizontally with it. If however the wick is raised by so turning the chimney holder as is the case in some forms of lamps, then the arrangement is an automatic one.

Figs. 9 and 10 show the invention as applied to a flat wick. In this arrangement, upon the wick casing 37 is disposed a sleeve 38 having a snug fit laterally thereof, but extended at its ends beyond the wick casing 37 so as to permit longitudinal movement thereon. An upper outer sleeve 39 is fitted closely upon the sleeve 38 so that it is capable of vertical motion only thereon. This sleeve has a number, as threeor four, of fingers 40 extending vertically on each side to a height equal to the height to which the wick can be raised without smoking and flaring and the upper ends of these fingers are joined cross-wise by wires or trimmers 7. The lower edges of the sleeve 39 are provided with slotted lugs 41 through which pass pins 42 extending from the sides of the sleeve 38, the depth of the slot being the same as the height of the fingers 40. As will be readily understood, this construction enables the wires to have a ver tical movement with the face of the wick as well as a lateral or operative movement given to them by the following mechanism. A spindie 43 having bearings in the chimney holding frame carries a pin 44L projecting on each side thereof, which engages the pins 4.5 of a pin wheel 46 on a spindle 47 turning parallel to the wick and carrying small spur wheels 48 which pass through extended slots 49 in the sleeve 38 and also through slots in the wick casing in the usual manner to engage the wick to raise and turn the same. The spindle 43 is bent at 50 to form crank arms which carry links 51, bent, if necessary to avoid interference with the pin-wheel 46, and jointed at their other ends to flanges 52 formed on the lower edge of the sleeve 38 by which means the said sleeve rests and slides upon ledges 53 extending outwardly from the wick casing 37. By the arrangement of the single pin on the spindle 43 engaging with a pin-wheel, having a large number of pins, on the spindle 47, the spindle 43 is caused to revolve, and the sleeves 38, 39 to reciprocate, once, while the spindle 47 makes a small fraction of a revolution, and the wick is raised through the corresponding small amount. The charred portions of the wick are thus effectually rubbed and the cinders removed, while the wick is being carried through a comparatively slight distance.

The usual wire grating or air distributer 54 is modified somewhat by extending slightly the ends of the aperture 55, through which the wick passes, to allow for the longitudinal movement of the sleeves 38, 39 therein.

Having thus fully described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a lamp frame, of wires or trimmers, contiguous to and rising and falling with the charred face of the wick when the latter is above the wick casing, said wires being also capable of movement relative to said wick across its face to trini the lamp, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a lamp frame, of wires or trimmers, contiguous to and rising and falling with the charred face of the wick' whenthe latter is above the wick casing, said wires being also capable of movement relative to said wick across its face to trim the lamp, and a stop limiting the elevation of the trimmers, substantially as described.

3. Inalamp, the combination with the wick casing, of a trimmer carrier, carrying wires or trimmers projecting over the wick space and adapted to rest upon and rise and fall ICC with the charred face of the wick when it i is above the wick casing, and means whereby the vertical movement of the wick is antomatically accompanied by a relative horil zontal 'movement of the trimmers upon its charred face't'o trim therseime5ubstentially easing of a trimmer carrien carrying wires or trimmers 'prejecting'over the wick spaceanjd i adaptedto rest upenamhr'ise and fall with e the charredfz zceefthewickwhenitisabove thewiek casing the easing and carrier having a pin. and. slot engagement; with'each other, thepi having vertical playihthe slot to permi s alimitedri'se and fall of the carrier reiafiively to' the easing; and meains whereby the vertical mevement of the wick is autm matiea-Hy aceempani'ed by a relative hori'zens ta movementef the trimmersupen its charredface ie trim: the

scribed J 5 I 5. In alam p, the combinagiemwifh the wick carrier, of" 'aflame' spreader, provided with wire fike perfieneprojectingeve? the wick 1 spaee and afi'apted'te contact with the charred i wick, substantially as de face ofthewiek, said erojectiense heingcapatetrim the same, subsmntialiy as described. 6:; In alamp, thecem'binatien,withthe wick I carrier, of a flame spreader, having a limited vertical movement, provided with wire-like Isle of mevemenbaeross the face ef: the'wick I e P61410113 projecting over the wick space and aG-aptedto: centact wiih: the. charred, face of the wick, said projections being capable 0f movementacross the eharredefaxceefthewiek 'to' trim theasame,eubStzmtially as described. e 7 Ina lamp, the eombinatien, with the wick carrier, of a flame spreademprovided with wire likeapoi'tions; projecting over the w ick 7 space and adapted to contact with thecharred v h 1 face of the wick, andmeans for deriyingfrem the Wires aeross iis's fageeto trixn the same, 111

,stant'ially asfiesc'ribed; y e r 8. The combination; in a xlamp,,.ha, ving a round wiek adapted he he raised ami lowered v e by rotary metien, with, the cylinders, 95

plurality of wires e 0-1 trimmers; secured, at equal intervals apart,-t0 one of saideylindets so as'ie pmj-ect; overethee wiek spaee and'con taet with said'wiek ash: is raised;wherebyv all, partsef thewickaretrimn ied inethe rater: mom-through one: of said "intervalgeubstan-g 121.11? as deseribedi: I

J. B; JOYNER.

. W-R B N Q Wifinesses: I

Y I e S -W.=ED WARDS, 

